Peter Watts draws on bizarre psychological research that makes strange and dangerous individuals, biologically engineered to work in the deep sea, psychologically compatible with the unique and terrifying environment 3 kilometres below the ocean surface. The reason for being there is mundane, but what they discover is world changing in it's destructive potential. Watts draws on his background in marine-biology and extraordinary imagination to craft something rare in SF - unique plots, characters and outcomes. He's not for the scientifically faint of heart, but if he tickles your septum pellucidium then you will become a devotee for life.

The title is sarcastic. The first 200-220 pages are an unfocussed blur where a bunch of single events happen with barely any connection between any of them. Every character is either traumatised or a bad person who is also traumatised, but it's only occasionally actually done well and expanded on. Mostly, the trauma is just used to make the story feel darker than it actually is. The science was also disappointing because there were some cool ideas, only really 2 of which were actually developed. To the story's credit, it really starts to pick up and get super interesting once Scanlon brings something up from the ocean (no spoilers), at which point stuff really started getting going and the next 60 pages were super action packed and interesting. And then the ending was amuddled mess of bad writing and dropped plot points. Seriously, just read from the beginning of the section of the book called "Seine". That is where the best parts of the book are and context wont really enhance the events all that much.